Can I Train HYROX Without a SkiErg?

Yes, though it’s the one HYROX station where a substitute genuinely isn’t equivalent, so it deserves a specific plan rather than just skipping it. The skiErg targets your lats, shoulders, triceps, and core through a pulling pattern that’s hard to replicate exactly with other equipment, which is why so many HYROX athletes flag it as the station that surprises people on race day if they’ve never trained on one.

If your gym doesn’t have a skiErg, the closest stand-in is a rowing machine, even though the movement pattern differs (rowing is more leg-and-back-driven, skiErg is more upper-body and core dominant). Rowing intervals at race-relevant distances and intensities will still build similar aerobic and muscular endurance in the surrounding muscle groups. Pair that with dedicated overhead pulling work — think lat pulldowns, banded pulldowns, or even resistance-band ski-motion drills — and you can build meaningful work capacity in the right muscles even without the exact machine.

The bigger risk with skipping skiErg-specific training isn’t fitness, it’s pacing. Athletes who’ve never used one tend to either go too hard in the first 200 meters and blow up, or under-pace because the movement feels unfamiliar under race adrenaline. If you can get even a handful of sessions on an actual skiErg before race day — even just to learn the rhythm and pacing — that experience is worth more than additional volume on a substitute.

If you’re training in a destination like Phuket specifically with HYROX in mind, it’s worth checking ahead of time which gyms actually have a skiErg rather than assuming any well-equipped gym will, since it’s still a less common piece of equipment outside dedicated HYROX training spaces.